Uploaded April 2026 | Updated September 2026, 3 weeks ago
Andrew Szydlo's lecture on mercury was so extraordinary that we couldn't bear to cut a single moment — so instead of one video, you're getting two full hours of Andrew in full flow in Part 1 and Part 2.
Watch Part 2 here: youtu.be/n1oUMjwnCj0
This talk was filmed at the Ri on Saturday 21st March 2026.
Mercury has fascinated us for thousands of years — found even in Egyptian tombs from 1500 BC. Known as 'quicksilver', its unusual appearance as a beautiful, dense, shiny silver liquid led to the belief that it possessed magical properties, and it was used in both medicine and alchemy. Groundbreaking discoveries have been made using mercury: from the first ever vacuum in the 17th century, to the first electric motor built by Faraday right here at the Ri.
Andrew Szydlo brings mercury to life with a host of extraordinary experiments, illustrating its remarkable properties. Mercury's compounds produce spectacular and colourful chemical reactions, and it can even be frozen with liquid nitrogen and turned into a hammerhead — with dramatic results. These experiments, and other surprises throughout the lecture, will amaze and delight curious minds of all ages.
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Andrew Szydlo is a chemist and secondary school teacher at Highgate School, well-loved by pupils and Ri attendees alike. He has given public lectures around the country, appeared on TV shows, and has become a popular part of the Ri's YouTube channel — with his videos amassing over 16 million views in total.
When Andrew started giving chemistry lessons to friends some 50 years ago, he would bring a pocket-full of chemicals to illustrate the principles of chemistry. Today, those lessons have evolved into full demonstration lectures given to audiences in a wide variety of locations. Over the past 40 years he has given over 800 talks, in addition to teaching chemistry full-time at Highgate School in London. He is now an outreach teacher, still based at Highgate School, visiting around 50 schools in London every year. The Royal Society of Chemistry included Andrew as one of their 175 Faces of Chemistry.
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Chapters:
0:00 Introduction & Why Mercury Fascinates Us
0:32 Density Demo: Mercury vs. Apples & Oranges
1:25 Steel Bolts in Water vs. Mercury
2:48 Mercury Conducts Electricity
4:08 Mercury Tilt Switches in Action
5:43 Gold Dissolves in Mercury: Amalgam Magic
7:52 Silver Amalgam & Diana's Tree
9:38 Mercury Vapour: Invisible & Deadly
11:03 The Mad Hatter & Occupational Poisoning
12:52 Freezing Mercury with Liquid Nitrogen
20:11 Hammering Nails with a Frozen Mercury Hammer
23:50 Mercury Thermometers & Gabriel Fahrenheit
27:51 Cinnabar: Where Mercury Comes From
30:02 Extracting Mercury by Roasting Cinnabar
33:44 Mercury in History, Philosophy & Alchemy
40:05 Paracelsus & Mercury as Medicine
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The Ri is on Twitter: twitter.com/ri_science
and Facebook: facebook.com/royalinstitution
and TikTok: tiktok.com/@ri_science
Listen to the Ri podcast: podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ri-science-podcast
Donate to the RI and help us bring you more lectures: rigb.org/support-us/donate-ri
Our editorial policy: rigb.org/editing-ri-talks-and-moderating-comments
Subscribe for the latest science videos: bit.ly/RiNewsletter
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Product links on this page may be affiliate links which means it won't cost you any extra but we may earn a small commission if you decide to purchase through the link.
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#Chemistry #Mercury #RoyalInstitution #AndrewSzydlo #ScienceLecture #ChemistryExperiments #Quicksilver #ScienceForAll #PublicLecture #Alchemy #Faraday #ChemicalReactions #LiquidNitrogen #ScienceEducation #TheMagicOfMercury
Andrew Szydlo's lecture on mercury was so extraordinary that we couldn't bear to cut a single moment — so instead of one video, you're getting two full hours of Andrew in full flow in Part 1 and Part 2.
Watch Part 2 here: youtu.be/n1oUMjwnCj0
This talk was filmed at the Ri on Saturday 21st March 2026.
Mercury has fascinated us for thousands of years — found even in Egyptian tombs from 1500 BC. Known as 'quicksilver', its unusual appearance as a beautiful, dense, shiny silver liquid led to the belief that it possessed magical properties, and it was used in both medicine and alchemy. Groundbreaking discoveries have been made using mercury: from the first ever vacuum in the 17th century, to the first electric motor built by Faraday right here at the Ri.
Andrew Szydlo brings mercury to life with a host of extraordinary experiments, illustrating its remarkable properties. Mercury's compounds produce spectacular and colourful chemical reactions, and it can even be frozen with liquid nitrogen and turned into a hammerhead — with dramatic results. These experiments, and other surprises throughout the lecture, will amaze and delight curious minds of all ages.
---
Join this channel as a member to get access to perks:
youtube.com/channel/UCYeF244yNGuFefuFKqxIAXw/join
Subscribe for regular science videos: bit.ly/RiSubscRibe
---
Andrew Szydlo is a chemist and secondary school teacher at Highgate School, well-loved by pupils and Ri attendees alike. He has given public lectures around the country, appeared on TV shows, and has become a popular part of the Ri's YouTube channel — with his videos amassing over 16 million views in total.
When Andrew started giving chemistry lessons to friends some 50 years ago, he would bring a pocket-full of chemicals to illustrate the principles of chemistry. Today, those lessons have evolved into full demonstration lectures given to audiences in a wide variety of locations. Over the past 40 years he has given over 800 talks, in addition to teaching chemistry full-time at Highgate School in London. He is now an outreach teacher, still based at Highgate School, visiting around 50 schools in London every year. The Royal Society of Chemistry included Andrew as one of their 175 Faces of Chemistry.
---
Chapters:
0:00 Introduction & Why Mercury Fascinates Us
0:32 Density Demo: Mercury vs. Apples & Oranges
1:25 Steel Bolts in Water vs. Mercury
2:48 Mercury Conducts Electricity
4:08 Mercury Tilt Switches in Action
5:43 Gold Dissolves in Mercury: Amalgam Magic
7:52 Silver Amalgam & Diana's Tree
9:38 Mercury Vapour: Invisible & Deadly
11:03 The Mad Hatter & Occupational Poisoning
12:52 Freezing Mercury with Liquid Nitrogen
20:11 Hammering Nails with a Frozen Mercury Hammer
23:50 Mercury Thermometers & Gabriel Fahrenheit
27:51 Cinnabar: Where Mercury Comes From
30:02 Extracting Mercury by Roasting Cinnabar
33:44 Mercury in History, Philosophy & Alchemy
40:05 Paracelsus & Mercury as Medicine
---
The Ri is on Twitter: twitter.com/ri_science
and Facebook: facebook.com/royalinstitution
and TikTok: tiktok.com/@ri_science
Listen to the Ri podcast: podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/ri-science-podcast
Donate to the RI and help us bring you more lectures: rigb.org/support-us/donate-ri
Our editorial policy: rigb.org/editing-ri-talks-and-moderating-comments
Subscribe for the latest science videos: bit.ly/RiNewsletter
---
Product links on this page may be affiliate links which means it won't cost you any extra but we may earn a small commission if you decide to purchase through the link.
---
#Chemistry #Mercury #RoyalInstitution #AndrewSzydlo #ScienceLecture #ChemistryExperiments #Quicksilver #ScienceForAll #PublicLecture #Alchemy #Faraday #ChemicalReactions #LiquidNitrogen #ScienceEducation #TheMagicOfMercury
